The Name Game
by kdibs227cheerleader
Summary: When you live with the same people for so long, they learn other ways to call you other than just by your name.
1. Chapter 1

Starfire wasn't accustomed to the naming of sorts here on Earth, but she caught on soon enough. Apparently the giving of a nickname to someone was more of a token of affection. She was still confused, however, because some of these names could be insulting or degrading instead of kind.

_'Star_' was one that most of the team, and some honorary Titans, called her with. It seemed that everyone had had their name shortened to make it a single syllable; it wasn't that they didn't car enough to say the full name, which they did, but it was quicker to say if they were in a tight spot.

There were a few others. _'Red-head'_ was what Beast Boy decided on one day while the two of them were walking around the mall. He had pointed to one of those hair salon pictures and said the tall red headed girl looked like her, but he had also added that she was much better looking. She had taken his compliment in stride in addition to the endearment.

'_Princess_' and '_Ariel_' were what Cyborg and Raven had come up with during movie night. They couldn't decide on what to watch so when Raven claimed she had never seen any Disney movies-just as Starfire hadn't-Beast Boy had sat them all down for a marathon of them. She had been entranced by the characters of Belle, Mulan, and Ariel. So the next day they began to throw those names into the running. Not that she minded of course.

Robin though, even to this day, made her blush and burst with joy. He only said it when they were alone, when the others were gone, and even then it was a soft whisper. '_Mine_' is what he would say to her. Whispered right next to her ear, his arms around her waist, not wavering for a second.

_'Troq_' had brought to light that not all names were good ones, and then she saw what her team did to those that did throw those nasty ones out there, and she learned to ignore them. They still stung, of course they did since each of her friends knew the root of the cause was that they were different, but she never dwelled much on them.

Because one of her friends would be there in an instant, smile in hand with one of the names, the good and fond kind, ready on their lips.

**Author's Note**: There will eventually be one of these for each of the Titans...maybe some Titan East people I don't know yet but I've wanted to do something like thise for awhile. So review and tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Robin really didn't grow up with nicknames as a kid. When he began working with Batman, only a few people knew his real name and he intended to keep it that way. It wasn't that he didn't want people to know-because some days he thought that his team deserved to know-but that might led to some unwanted attention. There were a handful of nicknames he had accumulated over the years with the titans.

_'Gel-Head'_ was what Cyborg, and Beast Boy to some extent, would use. It was a complete accident that he got it, but he had only just walked into the common room, and he was feeling slightly proud of himself. His hair was looking great, and he knew he would beat Beast Boy this time; they had been having a contest to see whose hair could stand up straighter. Cyborg followed him in, laughed once, and thus the name was born.

'_Rob_' was another one. He went by that name almost as much, if not more, than Robin itself. Everyone, but Starfire, seemed to use it.

"Hey, Rob, pass the salt."

"Hey, Rob, keep on your toes today; didn't you know it's Valentines Day?"

"Rob, I swear, next time you decide to go and be stupid I'm letting Raven whoop your ass."

'_Mlinzi_' was something that slipped out during a late night up with his male companions. They had all simply been talking and Robin's new game character had a strong protective streak. Beast Boy said it fit, and that in Africa someone who was protective was called Mlinzi. Of course, it wasn't used often, but it always came into the air when something bad came up. No matter what Beast Boy would say it and Robin would feel better.

Raven didn't resort to nicknames on a normal day, well not so much with him, but if he was feeling particularly down or cocky, she would be there to set him straight._ 'Boy wonder'_ was a sign that he was doing good. He knew he was being an ass when the words _'Boy blunder'_ slipped out of her mouth.

Of course, only one person on the team knew who Robin really was under his mask. It took him so long to say it to her, and he swore she couldn't have smiled any brighter. Sure, Star doesn't have any sort of pet nickname for him since they've started dating, but he likes the one she whispers to him at night best.

_'Richard_' hasn't sounded that nice in a long time.

**Author's note: **Alright I updated this fic! I'm trying to get update as soon as I can. Anyway 'Mlinzi' is Swahili for protector and I always thought Robin had that kind of streak about him. Also I love the language and I would take it in high school, but alas we only have latin, french, and spanish. Well I hope you enjoy this chapter. Read and Review :)


	3. Chapter 3

Cyborg knew that being part robot caused him to end up a ton of names. Heck, half of them ended up being tagged on him due to his constant word sparring with Beast Boy. He wasn't sure if half of them could be used in public; he and his green friend had many names stored up for blackmailing purposes only. The good thing about it was that only one person knew of them and wasn't about to tell anyone, least he get his neck broken or have an unfortunate accident occur.

Starfire often called him _Sparky_ or some sort of deviation of it. Cyborg wasn't sure how she got hold of that nickname, but his only guess was from Bumblebee. It didn't happen often, in fact he could count on one hand the amount of times Star had called him that, all of them being fond memories.

Raven was even more stringent of using any sort of name substitute, but there was one-_only one_-that she used and it was by complete accident that she had learned it. He had been brooding in his room, Raven came by the snap him out of his funk since B was away, and she noticed the cause of his sudden mood change.

The letter hadn't been opened, but she had seen it had been addressed to one Victor Stone. "Hm, _Victor_, huh? Well, I can understand why you chose Stone for that undercover mission." She didn't say anything about it, not to the others and in some why he's grateful to her for that, even today. He knew they learned Beast Boy's by complete accident; Raven knew and still said nothing, giving him his privacy. But she called him out, when no one else was around, and he didn't even think that him mom could make his name sound that menacing.

Robin simply called him Cyborg. Until they had another battle with the Hive 5, and he had gotten a set of rockets strapped to his legs. The name _Rocket_ _Legs_ hadn't left the air for weeks.

Beast Boy…well there wasn't a name he hadn't called him. _Chrome dome, metal butt, tin can_. All of them were used more than once, and after those there were countless others. However, _Cy_ was reserved strictly for Beast Boy. It wasn't a written rule or anything, but no one else thought to use that nickname when they each had their own.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do with all of them. But for now, it was nice to be noticed. And hey, if his friends thought that showing they cared about him was to bestow a nickname on him, who was he to judge?

Besides, he liked the feeling that came when a new name emerged.

Author's Note: Ok, I'm updating all working stories this weekend. School is winding down, thank god, and I now have a tiny bit more time to write. Of course, updates will get more regular when school finally lets out...oh well. Read and Review, I enjoy hearing your comments.


	4. Chapter 4

Beast Boy knew that from day one, once the green skin came, that having anything close to a normal name was impossible. He understood that his team often resorted to nicknames, some very questionable, while others made a single appearance than faded back. Of course, with the ones he came out he should have expected to have several thrown back in return.

Cyborg was constantly throwing them out there. There was the playful one of _moss head_, but the one that stuck, no matter what the circumstance, was _grass stain_. His metal friend took to shortening his name, too. No, he did that with everyone, except Raven since Beast Boy was the only one who got to do that, but with Cy he actually managed to take his name and turn it into one or two letters. _BB_ or_ B_ was so natural to respond to now, it was almost like having an actual name like Sam or Luke.

Starfire didn't mind calling him his actual superhero name, but since she had gone out with Jinx and Raven, the alien had taken to calling him _pixie_. For whatever reason, and no matter how hard he tried to figure it out Star wouldn't budge. He knew he was royally screwed when Jinx came over, and in all seriousness, she and the red head had screamed that name so loud that he was sure that people on the main land could here it. She finally did explain it to him; she read a fairy tale book, saw woodland creatures with green skin, thought of him and that was that.

Robin only has one-_one_-nickname and he bites the head off anyone else who uses it. Actually the rest of the team didn't find out about it till a few months after Robin thought of it. They were stuck on an overnight mission, in the middle of some snowed in warehouse, and he couldn't shift at the time due to 'other reasons' that Robin wouldn't go into. He was cold; Robin was being a big pain in the butt about mission crap and whatnot, so he had started moving. Old training moves or simply tapping his fingers on his leg helped warm him up a bit, but clearly Robin had different ideas. _Bunny_ came out and the only thing Beast Boy could do when Robin said was blink…and then remain as still as possible till they got back home.

Raven seemed to find ways of calling him different names. There were many, oh _boy_ were there lots, and the best way for the rest of the titans to see how many she could come up with was to get her yelling at their resident shifter. _Idiot_ seemed to be a constant term, always on the tip of Raven's tongue, but over the years it's become more of an endearment than an actual insult. Other than that she usually calls him by his name. But after the team met the Doom Patrol (that night back the team picked his brain on everything about them), Raven seemed to find great pleasure on calling him by his actual name. Never in public, and sometimes not even in front of the team. During those first few months with having the girl know this was absolute hell; Beast Boy really didn't think he could ever hate the name _Garfield_ so much. But then, during one night at supper, Raven made her jab.

Not the usual one with Garfield, but something…nicer. If that was even possible concerning Raven and himself. _Gar_ hadn't sounded that nice in years…the fact that Raven kicked the butt of whoever else tried to call him that was heartwarming, too.


End file.
